Making construction equipment run cleaner

Environmental certification programs such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) have long focused on making buildings greener.

But what about the equipment that helps build the buildings, roads and bridges? That’s where Project Green Fleet comes in.

The clean air program, established in 2005 with a focus on reducing emissions in school buses and diesel trucks, is making a transition to aging diesel-powered construction equipment, part of an effort to stay ahead of increasingly strict federal air quality standards.

An initiative of the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Environmental Initiative, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and others, the program has an $8 million fundraising goal to make cranes, loaders, graders and other construction equipment run cleaner.

Fundraising was launched last week. Matching grants will become available to fleet owners who “re-power” their eligible equipment with new, clean-burning engines, according to Emily Franklin, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Initiative.

About 15 members of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota have participated in the program with off-road construction equipment, according to Dave Semerad, AGC-Minnesota’s CEO.

“Each piece of equipment is slightly different in terms of what it’s going to cost, but it’s definitely worthwhile for the contractor,” he said. “After they are finished they are going to burn less fuel and it will burn cleaner.”

Franklin said it makes sense to target construction vehicles because many have been in operation for 30 years or more and don’t include modern emissions controls. Some of the vehicles put in 1,000 hours of work in a year’s time, she added.

Through the program, more than 3,200 school buses and 1,200 diesel trucks have been updated. Part of the goal is to stay ahead of the game and avoid costly penalties as federal air standards become tighter.

“It seems like a logical next step — now that school buses are completed — to focus on construction [vehicles] because of how long they operate and how much time these vehicles are running,” Franklin said.

Fundraising has just started, but the effort is off to a good start. Flint Hills Resources in Rosemount recently contributed $1 million, which completed bus retrofits and is helping the program get rolling with construction vehicles.

The Minnesota Legislature contributed $2.4 million to the school bus initiative.

It’s not clear exactly how many construction vehicles need emissions upgrades. But it’s a significant number because diesel equipment “tends to last forever,” said Jake Reint, director of public affairs for Flint Hills Resources.

And with construction activity picking up across the Twin Cities, “a number of eligible vehicles … currently doing construction work in Minnesota … could benefit from these upgrades,” he said.

Franklin said the goal is to complete at least 100 construction vehicles across the state. For eligible vehicles, the program would cover 50 percent of the cost.

Costs vary, but a typical retrofit for construction vehicles runs between $60,000 and $80,000, Franklin said.

Though the improvements aren’t cheap, the new engines are more efficient and save on fuel costs, thus providing long-term benefits to the owner as well as cleaner air, according to the program’s boosters.

Franklin said some construction equipment has already been updated through the program.

Examples include a motor grader used by Rogers-based Veit Cos. on the $957 million Green Line light rail project, and a 1979-vintage crane used by Plain, Wis.-based Edward Kraemer & Sons on the $128 million Interstate 494/Highway 169 project.

From an air quality standpoint, the school bus initiative produced an impact equivalent to taking 750,000 vehicles off the road, according to John Linc Stine, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

“It’s not just by luck we have the current high air quality we have,” he said. “It’s because we have a good track record with businesses and communities taking action. We want to see that continue.”